As these disheartening photos show, there has been virtually no progress at Ground Zero over the last two years.

Nonetheless, Gov. Pataki again defended architect Daniel Libeskind’s plan for the site as “brilliant” and said it would continue to be the basis for rebuilding.

Pataki, already on the defensive for delays at Ground Zero, insisted that construction on a redesigned Freedom Tower would get under way as soon as possible, and he shot down a suggestion by developer Donald Trump in yesterday’s Post that the original Twin Towers should be erected in its place.

“The Libeskind site plan is the one that has been agreed upon, and that will be built,” Pataki said during an appearance downtown with Mayor Bloomberg to tout the overhaul of the South Ferry subway terminal.

“The Libeskind site master plan was a brilliant plan,” the governor added.

At an event in Queens, Sen. Charles Schumer – who has publicly criticized delays in the building process – agreed.

“My bottom line is that I think we ought to not go back to the drawing board,” he said. “Let’s get it done already.”

Schumer argued that the redesign should make as few modifications to Libeskind’s design as possible and not start from scratch.

“A lot of people, Mr. Trump included, have good ideas, but we could go back and wait another 10 years and do nothing if we considered every new idea,” he said.

Pataki this week ordered a redesign of the Freedom Tower following a Police Department report warning of major security flaws in its design.

One of the issues cited by the NYPD is that the planned tower was to be located too close to West Street, making it vulnerable to a truck bomb, sources have said.

The NYPD also cited the fact that the tower would be able to withstand a blast from a bomb weighing up to only 5,000 pounds – half the strength recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, WABC/Channel 7 News reported.

The NYPD’s red flags led to this week’s announcement that the Freedom Tower would have to be redesigned, but the department chose a strange way of sounding the alarm – sending its warnings to the Port Authority by mail.

Those warnings had to be sent a total of three times before they were acted on, Channel 7 reported.

Pataki admitted yesterday the building may have to be moved from its planned location at the northwest corner of the Ground Zero site.

“Perhaps shifted 20, 30, 40 feet, but in the same area.”

But the governor said he didn’t think the already-laid Freedom Tower cornerstone would have to be moved.

The original Freedom Tower was supposed to be completed by 2009, but rebuilding officials now say its completion could be delayed by up to a year.

Architect David Childs, working on behalf of site developer Larry Silverstein, is expected to come up with a new design within several weeks.

“David Childs is one of the world’s great architects. He’s working as fast as he can,” Bloomberg said.

“It’s not just drawing lines on a computer screen or on a piece of paper, it’s a lot of thinking with the engineers and the safety people. Once again, there are so many moving parts nobody has ever built a building to these standards in such a problematic place.”

Although it will soar to 1,776 feet tall, as was called for in Libeskind’s original design, the structure will “look a lot different,” sources have said.

At Ground Zero yesterday, hardhats putting the finishing touches on Silverstein’s neighboring 7 World Trade Center building said they appreciated officials taking the security issues into account.

“I think they have a legitimate concern. [Police and firefighters] would have to save the workers if something ever happened. Safety first, jobs second. You could always get a job,” said Karl Joseph, 47, a carpenter from Newark.

“I hope they don’t take two years to resolve it, because this is almost finished,” he added as he gazed up at the gleaming glass tower, just north of the trade center site.

His friend, Mayers Turner, 45, a carpenter from Harlem, said he was appalled the security flaws were discovered so late in the game.

“It sounds like poor planning to me,” he said. “All that should have been taken into consideration in the planning process.”

John Martucci, an ornamental ironworker from Jersey City, said any delay was acceptable if it meant a safer building.

“It’s all for the better. As far as all that big-number stuff, moving it, if it’s safety, it’s for the better. If it gets built six months or a year from now, either way, we’re going to build it,” he said.

—-

Busy builders

Other large-scale construction projects and the time it took to build them:

* Queen Mary 2 cruise ship (above): Jan. 2002 to Jan. 2004

* 7 World Trade Center: Sept. 2002 to end of 2005

* Wynn Las Vegas hotel & casino: Oct. 2002 to April 2005

* Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies: Nov. 2001 to April 2004